In the autumn term of 2024, composer, sound artist and Liquid Listening trustee Duncan Chapman returned to Bedelsford School in Kingston Upon Thames to work with another class of children for our creative music-making and listening project. Bedelsford School has been one of our most committed Musical Hydrotherapy partner schools and has an amazing, dynamic swimming teacher as well as a supportive music therapist.

The project planned to work along similar lines as the first one, written about by Duncan here. I visited for the last two sessions to support and observe.

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During September and October, Duncan visited three times, when he did a range of listening and explorations of music-making, working with children from one of the PMLD classes. Each time, the children came out of class in pairs to work with Duncan in the school hall. The sessions always started with the children entering into a darkened room with a gentle soundscape playing composed from recordings of the sea, water and slowly moving sustained sounds. The sessions started by listening then gradually joining in and changing the sound in the room through interaction. Duncan had an array of simple electronics available including a microphone with live electronics (echoes, pitch changing and layering of sounds) and recordings of water sounds (the sea, rain, streams etc) via his laptop, plus a range of percussion instruments provided by the music therapist. Duncan has a magical way of combining these resources, capturing the sounds and rhythms made by the children and weaving them into bigger soundscapes and musical arcs. The whole tapestry of sound is interactive and completely rooted in the children’s own musical sounds so that they can instantly hear themselves whilst being part of a bigger musical whole.

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By the time I joined, on Duncan’s fourth visit, the children were familiar with the sound worlds and processes Duncan was using. I noticed a really beautiful moment when Girl A put her head on the ocean drum so she could get really close to the sound it was making. She then realised how much agency she could have by vocalising into the offered mic, which resulted in a real glint in her eye and lots of giggling!

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A boy, B had great fun playing a Chorda, a commercially-available midi controller and synthesiser which is built very simply and provides a great interface for playing back sampled voices and percussion sounds and this created a great opportunity for musical creativity as A’s voice and B’s playing of the Chorda intertwined and looped around.  

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For our final visit to Bedelsford, the plan had been for the children to experience listening to a mix of their music whilst in the school’s hydrotherapy pool. Sadly, school staff discovered that there had been a chlorine leak in the pool that morning, so it wasn’t safe to use. With some creative thinking, we were able to re-locate ourselves in the sensory room, which is equipped with a sound system, soft seating and coloured lighting, and which proved to be a good environment for quiet listening.

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Boy B, who had enjoyed playing our Chorda so much last time, alternated between excitedly twirling and clapping his hands with then laying his face on his table in response to the music. When Duncan played a section of the track with his voice in, he paid additional attention as he recognised himself.

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Boy C was really keen to get out of his chair and vocalised lots as he arrived for his listening session. Again, as Duncan played back sections of music that used his voice, C became quieter and calmer as he listened.

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Girl D lay on the soft mats and progressively relaxed over the 20 minutes or so that she listened to the music, whilst Girl E initially fell asleep and, when she later woke, made sounds in response to the music.

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When A entered the room, she was very curious and engaged about the space and the music playing. She listened very attentively and recognised her own voice which made her very excited. Like last time, there was real delight in her eyes and lots of giggling.

 

Since the session, Duncan has made a 40-minute track for the school to make use of, both in the hydrotherapy pool and in the classroom, which will enable the children to continue hearing their music. Rachel, the swimming teacher is very committed to the use of Musical Hydrotherapy for pupils in the school and will ensure that those children who took part in this project will get to hear the track whilst in the pool. Rachel also told us how she plays Liquid Listening’s music tracks during the school’s “regular” swimming lessons, as she finds that it helps the children to focus better and get the most out of the activities.

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